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Wow. That's an interesting connection. Is revenge any less satisfying after 31 years?

I agree with you on that part. This is obviously not where he really would have liked to be, based on his previous behavior.

I don't recall....ever....defending anything Keith accomplished here on the basis that he's "An Akron Guy". But apparently you came here to hammer on Keith (or me) instead of commenting about my post, which asked why some detractors have nothing to say after a recruit that we landed clearly stated that Akron's long history of high-win seasons was a big factor.

Every time I've gone to this page over the last month, and see this quote again from Mr. Toles, I keep wondering why those who keep pounding away at the long string of high-win seasons as "boring", "same old story", or "doesn't mean anything" haven't commented?

Yep. It wouldn't be the first time that a Star QB in the MAC carried a team to new heights. You guys have seen my posts for the last several days. I really don't want to believe that any team in the MAC East has passed us by this much in the course of one season. I guess I might get my answer tonight.

I wonder what we're supposed to get from their near-win against Groce's old team a few nights ago? I know Illinois is bad, but still. I also noticed that UT-Martin is traveling to play a game in North Carolina on Wednesday, and then traveling here to play. That could be a factor if we have to stage another late comeback.

I know what you mean. I keep trying to convince myself that it's the friggin MAC East. But even Terry said that this might be the best OU team that he's seen since he's been here. We've played them really, really close for the last few years. I'm having a hard time convincing myself that they've gotten that much better than us in one year. I just hope they've already played their best game this year.

So, here's my question. If you had looked at pictures of Big Dog through the years, would you have seen his transformation from a bench player to the MAC Most Valuable Player under the development of Dambrot and his staff? This is basketball. Not a bodybuilding contest. For whatever reason, I think a few of you are going through a mental process of trying to find things that might tell you, "This coach does this better than Dambrot". And when you think you've found something, you bring it here to bash on him a little more. For instance, it's quotes like this one below that strike me as being some kind of really bizarre hatred for the guy.

Any chance you can find about 20,000 more students to do the same thing, before 7pm tonight?

Interesting. You're predicting a repeat of the 1986 Title Game. But a different result. I still remember being in my final stretch of school at Akron, and listening to that game on a transistor radio that night while I was at my part time job. Technology sure has come a long way.

As you know, I'm not a huge Tommy fan. But it's usually always been about things that are outside of his playing ability. And I believe that he absolutely gives us our best chance to win tomorrow.

I think we're all just talking about the difficulty of preparing for a passing QB, and you end up having to defend a running QB. Or vice versa. If they guessed wrong, you can hope that this might leave them unprepared for some of what they might see tomorrow night.

Agreed. Last year's Akron/OU game was full of completely unexpected events also. I know. It's probably true. Gambling defensively to stop the run has to be part of the plan. I don't see another way.

What? Blue and Gold said that Keith is the guy who got them to come to Akron. And they now play for the Zips. They are here because of him. Be grateful for that. I care far more about how a guy develops as a basketball player. Whether a picture of him in high school vs. college looks better doesn't answer that question.

Can't we just hope that the rest of them only shoot 10 of 26 from the free throw line?

And he probably should have had even more if so many of his passes out of the paint weren't followed by low-percentage 3-point shots, on a team that took a ton of 3-point shots. Every coach is going to try to take advantage of what they have. Having a big, strong, skilled 300 lb. Center made that situation work for that team. This team won't have that advantage, so obviously the coach is going to have to find other areas where we might be able to leverage what we have against opponents.

If one thing remained the same during the coaching transition, it's probably Utomi's role as a scorer. I think he may have been the top scorer this year, even if Keith and all of last year's returning roster was still here.

I remember a recent discussion on here where a few people did NOT want to see Ken Lolla in Akron again. Well, then I guess you get a worse scenario. We're looking at an Elite 8 game AT Louisville.

So, pretty much a repeat of some of what we've seen already? It's been a wild ride, but here we are on the doorstep of the MAC East title. I don't want it to end tomorrow. And I agree that we should probably expect some things that are unexpected once again.

Umm. We haven't played Portage County Community College yet.

I'm sure you meant that OU is -13

That was in 1974, so it was before I was old enough to drink. But I know people who were there, and people who were working at the old Cleveland Stadium that night too, including relatives in law enforcement. Can you imagine? For those interested, you can still see some good footage and documentaries on YouTube. And, you can actually buy novelty tee-shirts that commemorate the occasion.

That was exactly the guy who came to mind for me too.

So have I. No.

Sorry I ruined your day.